1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to preservatives for food and more specifically to a preservative that extends the shelf life of fresh cut potatoes by reducing oxidation while preserving texture and flavor.
2. State of the Art
Fresh cut potatoes will rapidly deteriorate once the potatoes are exposed to air. This is particularly apparent when a potato is cut, and within minutes, the potato slices begin to brown. In addition, the flavor, texture, and crispness rapidly degrade and become significantly less appealing to be eaten. As such, it is often the case that fresh cut potatoes are discarded because of their inability to maintain freshness over a relatively short period of time.
Some prior art methods of preserving potatoes includes cooking, which can changes the flavor, appearance and texture, freezing, which affects the texture and crispness, drying, which changes texture, flavor, crispness and appearance, refrigeration, which can help to preserve crispness and flavor but not appearance, the addition of films, which are not desirable to be eaten, and the addition of chemical preservatives, which often significantly and detrimentally change the flavor of the food.
Natural substances such as salt, sugar, vinegar, alcohol, and diatomaceous earth are also used as traditional preservatives. Certain processes such as pickling, smoking and salting can also be used to preserve food but obviously have a significant effect on the flavor.
Ascorbic acid and its sodium, potassium, and calcium salts are commonly used as antioxidant food additives. These compounds are water-soluble and thus cannot protect fats from oxidation: For this purpose, the fat-soluble esters of ascorbic acid with long-chain fatty acids (ascorbyl palmitate or ascorbyl stearate) can be used as food antioxidants. Calcium ascorbate is a compound with the molecular formula CaC12H14O12. It is the calcium salt of ascorbic acid, one of the mineral ascorbates.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,880 to McArdle, the entirety of which is incorporated by this reference, relates to a food preserving composition containing an acid and a protein-polysaccharide complex (PPC) composition. The PPC includes a water-soluble polysaccharide, such as Guar gum, a water-insoluble protein such as zein and an acid such as citric acid. The polysaccharide is in an amount of between about 90% to 99% of the total PPC composition. The protein is a prolamine such as zein and is in an amount of between about 10% and 1% of the PPC. The acid is in an amount of between about 0.25% to 5% by weight of the total PPC compositions. The acidulant may be added to the water of an aqueous organic solvent system prior to addition of the organic components although it may be added contemporaneously with other organic components. Zein is extracted from corn or maize. PPC compositions containing zein are used to form odorless, tasteless, clear, hard and nearly invisible films. The PPC composition is sold in the market under the trademark ICEIN. ICEIN is provided in a yellow to white free flowing powder and has a pH of 2.6 to 4.0 in a 1% solution I distilled water at 20 degrees Celsius. The PPC of U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,880 is used to preserve food, specifically seafood and dried potatoes and is prepared by dissolving the PPC in an aqueous organic solvent containing alcohol and water in an amount of 100-300 grams of protein per liter of solution.
Among those familiar with the art have used various food preservatives to prevent oxidation. In addition, other food preservatives have included ingredients such as calcium, calcium ascorbate, citric acid, sodium acid pyrophosphate (SAPP), calcium chloride and sodium chloride. Each of these prior art preservatives, however, has a detrimental effect on the flavor of the potatoes and often have limited effectiveness. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a food preservative composition and method of using the composition to preserve fresh cut potatoes that preserves the appearance, color and crispness for a period of days or weeks, and that has either no palatable affect or actually enhances the flavor of the potatoes. The present invention provides a food preservative that includes, inter alia, naturally occurring nutrients in the potatoes to preserve color, taste, texture and shelf life of fresh cut potatoes.